The Case for Miniature Llamas

It is actually an American novelty, and a work in progress. Just as teacup poodles were bred down from standard ones, small adult llamas have been paired off by breeders for the last 20 years or so, producing some that stay small — and others that do not.

“Fifty percent of what you receive do not wind up being miniatures,” said Pam Fink, who breeds mini llamas and is president of the American Miniature Llama Association. Since the miniature gene pool goes back only about six or seven generations, it is far less reliable than that of an older breed like toy poodles, she said.

To qualify as miniature, a llama must be no more than 38 inches at the front withers (or shoulder height) at age 3. That makes it about three-quarters the size of a standard llama, but still a little larger than a standard alpaca.

“I’m 5-foot-5, and my standard llamas come up and like to rest their head on top of my head, so I will scratch them,” Mrs. Fink said. “A miniature walks up — an adult — and looks me in the eye.”

Outside the close-knit llama community, most people have no idea how big a llama is supposed to be, so they cannot tell a standard from a mini. Of the 180,000 registered llamas worldwide, only 1,000 of them are miniatures, Mrs. Fink said. And all but a few are in the United States, at a handful of farms that specialize in them.

Still, “you can breed two very good quality miniatures and not get a miniature,” she added, indicating a female in her barn. “Take Pansy: she comes from very great stock, but she didn’t make the cut.”

At 39 1/2 inches, Pansy is too big to be a mini and too small to be a standard. “But she is one of my favorites,” Mrs. Fink said, kissing her on the snout and cooing, “You know you’re just no good.”

Cuteness aside, miniature llamas are appealing for a number of reasons, said Susan Morgan, who breeds miniature and Argentine llamas (big, fluffy ones) with her husband, George, in Hastings, Minn. “They’re easier to manage, they eat less and they poop less,” she said.

Dr. Jane Rudd, a family doctor in Duluth, Minn., bought Alfie, the miniature llama she owns now, from the Morgans. She and her husband, Eric, an orthopedic surgeon, and their four children raise Pygora goats and wanted a llama to guard them. Although Alfie is an only llama, he is not lonely because he gets along so well with the goats, Dr. Rudd said.

“We decided to try a mini because I felt that my children could handle them better,” said Dr. Rudd, whose family previously owned full-size llamas.

The miniature llama was recognized as a separate breed by the International Lama Registry in 2005, but there are still skeptics, among them Robin H. Turell, a llama rancher in Cypress, Tex. “There’s no such thing as a miniature llama,” Ms. Turell said. “People that breed them will not agree with me, but in any stock you can breed down, you can make a size smaller.”

But breeders of miniatures press on, carefully measuring each newborn llama, or cria, to see if they can find a way to predict which ones will stay small.

Size, however, is simply a matter of preference, as Ms. Fink pointed out. “What’s the advantage of a Shih Tzu over a Great Dane, unless you live in a New York apartment?” she said. “I honestly can’t say there’s an advantage to a smaller llama.”